Baidu to Block Crypto Forums as China Continues Clampdown

Baidu, which owns the world’s second largest search engine, will block cryptocurrency-related discussions on its forums, according to local news sources. China Times reports [translated from Chinese]:

After the two Internet giants, Tencent and Alibaba, blocked off-exchange payment channels for digital currency, Baidu has also joined the comprehensive crypto blockade. In the past, currencies themselves, data sources, and ICOs have all been banned, and other crypto sources have disappeared without a trace.

The forum in question is called Baidu Tieba, which operates similarly to Reddit. This latest ban backs up similar blocks from WeChat, which recently banned crypto media on its site. Of course, WeChat is owned by Tencent – another company that has announced that it will suspend accounts using mobile applications for crypto trading. And multi-billion dollar Alibaba have also publicly announced that they are doing the same.

The Chinese government have long been strict on crypto and related activities, and are showing signs of slowing down. Just a few days ago, well over 100 offshore exchanges were blocked, following closures of 8 crypto media outlets. And Shanghai Securities News reported that following the blocking of almost 100 ICOs on top of this, that Bitcoin-Yuan trading had dropped from nearly 90% to around 5% of the world’s total Bitcoin trades, showing that the government’s blanket approach has proven extremely effective.

The People’s Bank of China issued a warning on 24th August, saying “Such activities claiming to be “financial innovation” are a gimmick. In essence, it is a Ponzi scheme and the operation of funds is difficult to maintain for a long time. The general public should be rational about blockchain; do not blindly believe in the promise of smallpox, establish the correct monetary concept and investment philosophy, and effectively raise awareness of risk; actively report illegal criminal activity to the relevant departments.”